Wisconsin Commit Jake Pickard offered by Michigan

Submitted by Allin4Blue on

He's a 3 star TE/DE out of NJ.  Interesting to see Harbaugh and Co going after committed players.  Not sure his interest level but he seems like a solid Jake Butt less than Jake Butt type player.

247 Has changed Michigan to the "Warm" interest level for what it's worth.

Hoke offerred him after his Junior year and has a pretty nice offer sheet from the likes of Oregon, BC, and Syracuse.

http://247sports.com/Player/Jake-Pickard-34154

y2mh

January 21st, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^

  Anyone else notice a couple of terms that keep popping up in the bios/eval/analysis of almost all these recent recruits being offered or renewed pursuit by the Harbaugh team?

 Found all 3 again in Pickard's "smart kid,...mentally tough,... he never gives up on a play" Those seem to be the hallmarks of this coaching staff,.. and I like it!! Just like Blue of old!!

Everyone Murders

January 21st, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^

The name dropping thing drives some people crazy.  Bo Schembechler used to complain about that to me all the time, and Lloyd Carr would get furious each time I brought it up.  Jessica Alba described name-dropping to me at a recent party as a huge turn-off.

Of course, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards told me name dropping is "quaint and a bit charming", while J.D. Salinger confided in me that "of all the problems in the world, name-dropping is a small one".  (Salinger always insisted on the hyphenated form, which I learned playing poker with him, Muhammad Ali and Bertrand Russell.  Lost $50 that night, but it was really nice to get back together with those guys, especially without Gertrude Stein to ruin all the fun.)

Everyone Murders

January 21st, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^

That's just a rumor that Bob Dylan and I made up to get Oprah to stop bugging us for an introduction to set up an interview with J.D.  Angela Merkel thought it was a hoot that we pulled that over on Oprah, btw - but when I made the mistake of telling Arnold Palmer about it he blabbed to the whole Augusta National clubhouse, and word spread from there.

Protip - Don't party with Merkel and Palmer unless you're willing to wake up at Dave Chapelle's house with a splitting headache.  I should have listened to Pope Francis when he warned me about this, so I pass on the word to the board for its consideration.

GoWings2008

January 21st, 2015 at 9:48 AM ^

I have no qualms going after kids who are committed somewhere else.  Anyone who does it to Michigan and they take the bait, well they weren't really ours to begin with. And if we can get them to flip, then all is fair I say.

One item though, OP...could you please correct Harbaugh's spelling above?  Its a little bothersome. 

Wolverine 73

January 21st, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^

Indeed--why would we have any qualms going after kids who are committed elsewhere?  Other schools had no qualms about going after kids committed to Michigan when Hoke was stumbling.  Everyone is in play until the letter of intent gets signed.

alum96

January 21st, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^

We're reaching the point we will start less threads if we just mention guys who Harbaugh has not offered.

And OP this is a pretty mid level recruit - you are sort of peeing on Jake Butt by calling a mid level TE recruit "Jake Butt type"  Butt is a very good player who was wasted away by last year's offense.  He should be a NFL player in a few years.

alum96

January 21st, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^

He is the 58th ranked TE in the country.  For comparison Butt was #5.   Chris Clark is Jake Butt level.

Khalid Hill was #32.  So if you want to call him Khalid Hill type ok.  Butt is a damn good player hidden in an ugly offense.

Doesnt mean he wont be a solid NCAA player but let's just get our parallels out of HS somewhat relevent. 

And I said "mid" level not "lower" level.

turd ferguson

January 21st, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^

Pickard is definitely closer to Hill than Butt in the rankings, but the 58th-ranked TE thing might be a little misleading because the services ranked him at different positions.  Here are his rankings:

  • 247: #55 TE
  • ESPN: #24 TE
  • Scout: #74 DE
  • Rivals: unranked (2-star) DE

Michigan is recruiting him as a TE.  His other notable offers are Wisconsin, Oregon, Nebraska, and then some lower-tier power conference schools (Illinois, Purdue, Syracuse, Rutgers, BC, etc.).

alum96

January 21st, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^

Yes that's fine.  My main point is Jake Butt was a premier recruit.   The lack of QB play last year hid his talent IMO - he had 2 drops I can remember in all the games he played in 2014.  That was 1 half for Funchess.  If this kid is "Jake Butt type" then there are apparently 30-50 Jake Butt types in this senior class out there. 

And probably the larger point than getting in the weeds here is we are recruiting guys who fit Wheatley's profile (TE/DE) so what does that say about Wheatley.  Everyone seems confident about him coming here but for a guy who is coming here, he sure says very little about it.  It feels like Malik McDowell or Treadwell to me.  Hope I am wrong.  This offer doesnt make me feel great about it.

turd ferguson

January 21st, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^

Also, it might be telling that most of the 2016 offers are going out to very highly rated recruits and most of the 2015 offers are going out to relatively low-rated recruits.  I'm guessing that means that our coaches' evaluations are roughly in line with the recruiting rankings, but they're scrambling a bit to fill the 2015 class (with guys who look good enough and actually might be interested).

If they were offering a bunch of low-rated 2016 guys, I'd be inclined to think that they're just looking for something different from the recruiting services' criteria.  That doesn't seem to be the case.  They're scrambling, which is understandable, since they have so little time, so many NFL guys on staff who don't know the 2015 recruits, and so few commits in this class or prospects who recently visited and expressed interest.

turd ferguson

January 21st, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^

That's kind of my point, actually.  Based on their 2016 offers, it seems they think the top-rated prospects really are the top prospects (deserving of their first offers).  They'd probably love to get some of the top-rated prospects for 2015, too, but they're understandably - and probably wisely - focused on kids who aren't committed yet or who seem like they might realistically shake loose from their current schools in the last few weeks before NSD (e.g., because of a coaching change at their own schools).

Franz Schubert

January 21st, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^

The elite cream of the crop recruits are easier to identify, think Peppers and Hand. i was only pointing out that the staff has certainly not been able to evaluate all the 4 and 3 star players for 2016 yet. For 2015 im guessing they are trying to find players they really value but also seem flippable.

alum96

January 21st, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^

Agree 100% Mr. Turd.

If we offer a low 3 star in 2016 it will be for a reason IMO. 

This year there is just not much time, we are flinging out offers in every direction but I do think most of the 3 stars do have some decent offer sheets.  And I dont think there is much different than say a 4 star rated #240 in the country and a high 3 star. 

But I don't see us offering the #55 TE in 2016 or #100+ OG like we are doing this year in the future.  And if we do there is going to be something very specific about that player.  Probably an ex connection to someone on the staff saying to our coaches, you have to look at this guy - everyone is missing him, he has not camped etc.

Space Coyote

January 21st, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^

I like his frame and length. On defense, he uses his hands well, though I'd like him to be more consistently violent with them (he swats and does the motions well for his age, but isn't violent yet). Doesn't really have a great explosive first step though. On defense, I think he'd have to bulk up and move into an interior role (5-tech or 3-tech). On offense, he'd be more of a true, in-line TE. He looks a bit stiff and straight line in his movements, and that'll limit his route running some and ability to get off of coverage, but in a run-based scheme with play action, if he can effectively block, he can be a solid in-line TE either for Wisconsin or Michigan.